2014 Releases

Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Three Broken PromisesSynopsis:Commitment. That’s what I really want from Colin. Ever since my brother, Danny, died in Iraq, Colin’s done so much to help me, including giving me a job at his popular restaurant so I can leave my crappy waitressing job at the strip joint. But lying in bed with him every night to comfort him from his horrible nightmares isn’t enough anymore. I know he feels guilty about Danny’s death, about not going to Iraq, but I can’t keep living this double life.

I love him desperately, but he’s got so many demons, and if he can’t open up to me now, then he’ll never be the real partner I need him to be. I gave him a month, and now I’m out of here. If he truly loves me like he says, he knows where to find me.

Review:

Colin and
Jen are both hiding secrets; secret pasts, secret thoughts, secret desires, the
list goes on. They’ve become each other’s emotional crutch, both clutching the
other closer while simultaneously pushing them away. Colin wants Jen close
physically, but he can’t let down his guard to let her in emotionally. Jen is
the exact opposite. She decides she can’t be around Colin, if she can never
have what she truly wants then she needs to move on with her life. The angst of
will they or won’t they is the crux of the story in Three Broken Promises.

Jen
announces she’s leaving and moving on to a bigger city. She plays it off as
she’s over this small town holding her back. In reality she’s tired of Colin
holding her back. Since we’ve met them, Colin has been her biggest support. He
has helped provide her with a job and a safe place to live. But what price does
Jen pay for his support? How long should she expect to stay silent and accept
the crumbs of affection Colin bestows on her? No longer is the answer.

Colin goes
into panic mode when Jen makes her big declaration. He comes to the conclusion
the best way to show her how much he cares is to let her go. He’ll encourage
her and do whatever she’ll allow him to do to help her. (Yeah, it’s obvious,
Colin’s a stupid straight man.) Even when Fable tells him exactly what Jen
really wants, he can’t see past all of the things he’s done wrong, all of the
promises he broke. Three to be exact, that’s how many promises he broke, and
they all lead back to Jen.

Both have
made their fair share of “mistakes” and are afraid the other will never forgive
them. The reality is it’s themselves they need to forgive, not each other. At
times watching their struggle was heartbreaking. At other times it was
downright frustrating, like the “Who’s on first?” routine.

Is
forgiveness or salvation found? Do Colin and Jen find peace with each other?
When secrets are revealed, is the judgment too harsh? Which sin is worse? When
everything leads back to one event, can they step back and see it was only
tragic circumstance, and they need to stop punishing themselves, or do they go
on to keep living their version of purgatory?

We get the
answers to all of these questions. We find out what they’ve been hiding from
each other, or what they think they’ve been hiding. Jen and Colin were equal
parts infuriating and annoying. Their behavior kept me reading to find out what
happened next. Luckily, Ms. Murphy doesn’t leave us broken apart at the end of
the Three Broken Promises. These broken promises couldn’t be fixed, but new promises
made can be kept.

Reviewed by Liz

I was provided a copy in exchange for an honest review.EXCERPT:

“You’re going to
turn me away yet again, aren’t you?” she asks when I don’t say anything. The
irritation in her voice rings clear as her entire body goes tense. “I can’t
believe it. I offer myself up to you with no strings attached and you’re trying
to figure out how to let me down easy. God, I am such a moron.”

Unable to hold
myself back, I rush toward her, angry that she would insult herself. Panicked
that she really is going to walk away and I’m going to lose my chance. Thinking
too much sucks. I need to just let it happen. Take this opportunity that she’s
presenting me.

And let her go
when our time is up.

“You’re not a
moron,” I murmur, reaching for her. I cup her face in my hands and position her
so she has no choice but to meet my gaze. I skim my thumbs across her cheeks,
feel her shudder at my touch. “You make an offer like that and a man needs to
process it first.”

The unshed tears
still glimmer in her eyes and one escapes, leaving a damp trail across her
skin. Leaning in, I stop its descent with my lips, tasting the salt, hearing
the catch in her breath. “We do this and it’s not going to be some half-assed
thing, you know,” I whisper.

She closes her
eyes, her tears tangled in her long, thick lashes. “What’s it going to be,
then?”

“A discovery.” I nuzzle
her nose with my own, breathing in her scent, her very essence. God, I could
devour her! It’s taking everything within me to keep calm and not unleash all
over her. “An exploration.”

“That sounds like
. . . research.” Her breath hitches in her throat when I drop a tender kiss on
the tip of her nose.

Chuckling, I shake
my head. “It’s the farthest thing from research.” I drift my lips across her
cheek, blazing a hot path on her petal-soft skin. “You’re right when you said I
don’t do commitment. The closest thing I’ve ever been to commitment is . . .
what I share with you.”

She tentatively
places her hands on my hips, her fingers curling into the waistband of my
jeans. Having her hands on me sends little darts of fire throughout my insides,
making me harden in an instant. She has no idea what sort of effect she has on
me. How much restraint I’m using at this very moment not to throw her over my
shoulder like an oversexed caveman and cart her off to my bedroom.

“But it can be no
more than friendship with added . . . benefits.” I lift my head so I can look
into her troubled gaze. She doesn’t like what I have to say and I don’t like it
either, but I have to be honest. Stringing her along and making her believe
this is something more is a mistake.

The two of us
together would never work. I’m too damn selfish. I’d disappoint her. I’d hold
her back when she needs her freedom. I’m not worthy of her. She’s everything
sweet and good in my life, where there’s little sweet and good remaining.

I’ve kept her—and
our relationship—as pure as possible even after all of these years. With the
realization that she’s leaving me, that we’ll never be together again, I need
to take my opportunities where I can.

Jen bites her lip
and drops her gaze. “I can handle that.”

Her body language
is more than telling me she doesn’t really want to handle that, but I can’t
worry about it now.

I want her too
damn much.

ABOUT Monica Murphy:

New York Times and USA Today
bestselling author Monica Murphy is a native Californian who lives in the
foothills below Yosemite. A wife and mother of three, she writes New Adult and
contemporary romance for Bantam and Avon. She is the author of One Week
Girlfriend and Second Chance Boyfriend.

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